The Many Lives Of Sol Hatchuel

10.1163/ej.9789004207004.i-240.7

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter the author presents different versions of Sol's story in both the European texts and the Jewish language texts, Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Spanish. The emphasis here is to compare the versions of her story in these languages. Later chapters account for these differences by placing them in their historical and literary cultural context. Each text recounts the events of Sol's life and death, but describes it according to the cultural beliefs of the author and his audience. There are two primary sources that can be traced back to Sol's family, however each is problematic. The first contains literary embellishments and invented dialogue. The second, based on the account of one of Sol's brothers retelling the story to a French traveler, has indecisive information on crucial points. When considering Sol's story from both a historical and even humanitarian perspective, a number of questions arise.